Interface agents as social models:The impact of appearance on females attitude toward engineering 指導教授： Chen, Ming-puu 報 告 者： Chen, Hsiu-ju 報告日期： Baylor, A. L., Rosenberg-Kima, R. B., & Plant, E. A. (2006). Interface agents as social models: the Impact of appearance on females’ attitude toward engineering. CHI 2006 (Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems). Montreal, Canada.

Introduction Recent empirical evidence has shown that a particularly valuable feature of animated interface agents is their potential to serve as human-like social models to influence student attitude and motivation. According to Bandura, (1997) much of our learning derives from vicarious experience. Social modeling of behaviors enables us to learn new behaviors, strengthens or diminishes previously learned behaviors, and reminds us to perform behaviors about which we had forgotten. Social models can also influence people’s attitudes.

Purpose of study The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of interface agent appearance on female students’ stereotypes and beliefs about engineering. Research in social psychology suggests that several appearance features are critical in determining how persuasive a social model would be in influencing young women’s’ beliefs: age, gender, attractiveness, and “coolness”.

Method 1/4 Participants : 109 female undergraduate students. (age M=19.72, SD=1.96) Research design and independent variables : 2 (gender: male vs. female) x 2(age: old vs. young) x 2 (coolness: cool vs. uncool) Participants were randomly assigned to one of the eight agent conditions. Three different factors (gender: male or female; age: older (~45 years) or younger (~25years); and “cool-ness:” cool or uncool). Coolness was operationalized to include the agent’s clothing and hairstyle. A fully integrated environment was created using Flash MX Professional 2004.

figure 1. Validated Agents, differing by Age, Gender, and “Coolness”. Method 2/4

Dependent variables: There were three dependent variables in this study: (1)participants’ endorsement of the traditional engineering stereotype (2) motivation (interest, utility, and engagement) towards engineering (3) self-efficacy regarding engineering. Students rated their level of agreement with each statement on a scale, ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7). Method 3/4

The stereotype inventory consisted of four items to assess female students’ stereotype concerning engineering-related fields. For example, “People would make fun of me, if I were a math major.” (α =.86). Students’ motivation to pursue engineering was measured according to three dimensions. (1) interest in taking engineering related classes was measured using four items (α =.83). Ex, “I will take a math course as an elective.” (2) utility of engineering was measured with eight items (α =.84). Ex“Hard science courses are very useful for me.” (3) the degree to which they found engineering engaging was measured with six items (α =.82). Ex, “I am really interested in math.” (4) The self-efficacy inventory included 10 items to assess students’ self-efficacy in engineering related fields (α =.89). Ex, “I am confident that I could do well in math classes.” Method 4/4

Research Environment One of the eight agents was randomly presented to each student. The assigned agent (set in a coffee shop location) introduced itself and provided a twenty minute narrative about four female engineers, followed by five benefits of engineering careers.( figure 2) figure 2. Sample Screenshot.

Procedure The experiment was conducted in a regularly-scheduled classroom lab session where students accessed the online module through a web-browser (see Figure 2 for screen-shot). Following completion, participants answered the online post-survey questions.

Results 1/2 To determine the effects of agent appearance on student endorsement of the traditional engineering stereotype, a 2 (female vs. male) x 2 (young vs. old) x 2 (cool vs. uncool) between-groups ANOVA was performed. The analysis revealed a significant main effect for agent gender, F(1,103)=4.44, p <.05. Participants who interacted with a female agent were significantly less likely to endorse the traditional stereotype of engineers (e.g., geeky, less social, etc.) (M = 2.66, SD = 1.36) than those who interacted with a male agent (M = 3.16, SD = 1.62), d =.34, a small moderate effect.

A 2 (female vs. male) x 2 (young vs. old) x 2 (cool vs.uncool) between-groups ANOVA on student self-efficacy revealed a significant interaction between agent age and agent coolness, F(1,103)=4.43, p <.05. Results indicated that if the agent were young, it had a more positive effect on self-efficacy if it were cool compared to un-cool (M =3.97, SD =1.16 vs. M=3.14, SD=1.31,respectively, d=.67, a moderate-large effect) Results 2/2

Conclusion Overall, female students who interacted with the female agent reported a more positive stereotype of engineering than those who interacted with the male agent.